Above: The new theft-resistant licence sticker. Photo: supplied

Police have recorded an increase in thefts of these DMV-issued licence decals in recent years with approximately 30 reported stolen in 2012. Perpetrators, in some cases, smash windows to enter locked vehicles and remove stickers from the windshield.

Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, who initiated the process to have the stickers replaced, looked at what other jurisdictions were doing to reduce the number of thefts.

“We found out that stickers issued in some jurisdictions tear when removed and therefore renders them useless. This information was shared with the Head of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the new stickers were subsequently ordered,” Chief Inspector Kenrick Headley shared.

Police have recorded only one attempt to steal the new licence sticker this year. The window of a vehicle parked at a ferry terminal overnight was shattered in the process however the sticker tore when the perpetrator tried to remove it and was only partly removed.

Despite a reduction in overall thefts from motor vehicles and licence stickers, the RVIPF is still recording these types of crime especially over the weekends and is reminding the public to plan ahead for securing vehicles and valuables particularly when leaving the island. 

Cellular phones, laptops and ipods left in plain view will increase the chances of a vehicle being targeted. Handbags remain at the top of the list of items stolen from motor vehicles.

Vehicle parts such as grills, rims as well as stereos speakers are also popular items for thieves and in recent times, entire car wheels have been removed, leaving vehicles on cement blocks especially when left for days or weeks in parking lots, on the side of the road or unattended around the airport or at the ferry docks.

Officers of the RVIPF believe there may be a common perpetrator or set of perpetrators committing these acts, and therefore is asking for any information on the identity of these individuals. Persons can call the RVIPF three digit non-emergency number 311 or call the anonymous Crimestoppers number 800-8477.